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The Great Balls Of Fire
The Great Balls of Fire is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE for the Raw brand. It will take place on July 9, 2017, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. It will be the first event under the Great Balls of Fire chronology. Background The card will include matches resulting from scripted storylines and have results predetermined by WWE on the Raw brand. Storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television shows Monday Night Raw and 205 Live, the latter of which is cruiserweight-exclusive. At WrestleMania 33, Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg to win the Universal Championship. The following night on Raw, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman teased a match between Lesnar and Roman Reigns, since Lesnar and Reigns were the only two people to have defeated The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Braun Strowman, who had been feuding with Reigns since the Royal Rumble, interrupted and indicated his desire to face Lesnar for the title. Strowman then continued his feud with Reigns, defeated him at Payback, and assaulted him after the match and again on Raw Talk, when Reigns was about to be taken to a medical facility. However, Reigns retaliated by slamming an ambulance door against Strowman's arm multiple times. The next night on Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle informed the audience that both men were injured. The following week, Strowman, wearing his arm in a sling, indicated that he would target the Universal Champion after finishing off Reigns. Later that night, Reigns attacked Strowman during the latter's match, targeting his arm with a steel chair. Strowman required surgery and was expected to be inactive for up to six months. On the June 19 episode of Raw, Reigns challenged whoever would be the Universal Champion at SummerSlam. Later that night, Strowman returned in an ambulance, costing Reigns his match against Samoa Joe. Strowman attacked Reigns and challenged him to an ambulance match at Great Balls of Fire. The following week, Reigns accepted the challenge and an ambulance appeared at the stage; Reigns went to investigate, but Strowman attacked and put him into the ambulance. After WrestleMania 33, Universal Champion Brock Lesnar went absent from Raw for several weeks due to his status as a part-timer wrestler. During this time, Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Finn Bálor, Bray Wyatt, and Samoa Joe each indicated their desire to challenge Lesnar for the Universal Championship. Due to Strowman being sidelined from his arm injury, General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled an extreme rules fatal five-way match at Extreme Rules between the other five, with the winner earning a title match at Great Balls of Fire. Joe won the match and confronted Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman the following night on Raw, stating that he did not fear Lesnar and wanted to face him. Joe then applied the Coquina Clutch on Heyman to send a message to Lesnar, who returned the following week and got into a brawl with Joe, which was broken up by the Raw locker room. In sit-down interviews on the June 19 episode, both Lesnar and Joe expressed their confidence that they could beat the other. The following week, as Lesnar was making his entrance, Joe ambushed Lesnar from behind and applied the Coquina Clutch on him three times, nearly causing Lesnar to pass out. Joe stopped the third hold only after some other wrestlers pulled him off of Lesnar. At Extreme Rules, Alexa Bliss retained the Raw Women's Championship against Bayley. The following night on Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle scheduled Bliss to defend the title against Nia Jax, as Bliss had said that she would give Jax a shot after she was through with Bayley. Bliss won the match by disqualification after getting Mickie James and Dana Brooke, who were at ringside, to attack her. On the June 12 episode, Sasha Banks, Brooke, and James defeated Bliss, Jax, and the returning Emma after Bliss abandoned her partners. The following week, during a match between Jax and Banks, Emma again confronted Bliss, and a brawl broke out also involving Brooke, James, and Bayley, who came out to help Banks. Angle then scheduled a gauntlet match between the six for the June 26 episode where the winner would face Bliss for the Raw Women's Championship at Great Balls of Fire. Jax dominated the match – eliminating Bayley, James, Brooke, and Emma – before being eliminated by Banks, who made her submit. Bliss then came out to confront her, but Banks attacked her and posed with the title belt. On the May 15 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins was scheduled to face Bray Wyatt as part of the build up to their extreme rules fatal five-way match at Extreme Rules. Wyatt did not believe that Rollins would win the Extreme Rules match, nonetheless, defeat Universal Champion Brock Lesnar. Rollins responded, called Wyatt gutless, and won their match by disqualification after Samoa Joe interfered. On the June 5 episode of Raw, Rollins wrestled Joe. During the match, Wyatt's music played and distracted Rollins, allowing Joe to win. The following week, Rollins confronted Wyatt, called him a coward, and wondered if the reason Wyatt cost him his match was due to Rollins previously calling him gutless. Wyatt, claiming himself to be a god, said that although Rollins slayed a king, he cannot slay a god. The next week, as Rollins introduced himself as the cover star of the WWE 2K18 video game, he was interrupted by Wyatt. Wyatt accused Rollins of contradicting the video game's tagline "Be Like No One" by having conformed to the expectations of the audience. Rollins then attacked Wyatt. On the June 26 episode, Wyatt challenged Rollins to a match at Great Balls of Fire, which Rollins accepted. On the June 6 episode of 205 Live, Titus O'Neil attempted to get Akira Tozawa to join his stable of wrestlers, "The Titus Brand" (later called "Titus Worldwide"). On the June 12 episode of Raw, O'Neil advertised to Tozawa the benefits of associating with him by having him witness Apollo Crews, another Titus Brand wrestler and the one who recommended Tozawa, defeat Kalisto. Titus continued to try and recruit Tozawa the following night on 205 Live and the following week on Raw, after Tozawa defeated TJP. WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville then complained about being disrespected by Tozawa. Titus responded that Tozawa could beat Neville and, with his help, would become Cruiserweight Champion. On the June 26 episode of Raw, O'Neil informed both Neville and Tozawa that he had negotiated a title match between the two at Great Balls of Fire. On the May 22 episode of Raw, Enzo Amore was found unconscious backstage after being attacked from behind by an unknown assailant. The following week, evidence presented itself when The Revival was seen in the background during a Sasha Banks interview around the same time Enzo was attacked. Later that night, Enzo was again found backstage knocked out. Raw commentator Cory Graves said that maybe Big Cass was behind the attack, but Cass said that he would never hurt Enzo. The following week, things had a shocking twist when Big Cass was found backstage knocked out. Due to this, Enzo had to find another partner for a match against Anderson and Gallows. Big Show came down and teamed with Enzo defeating Anderson and Gallows and ackstage afterwords, Cass confronted Show. The following week, Cass was again found unconscious, but still competed against Anderson and Gallows in a losing effort. Big Show came to the ring and saved Enzo from an attack by Gallows and Anderson and hugged Enzo while Big Cass watched. Enzo confronted Show, asking him about if had anything to do with Cass's attack, which Show took offense and walked away. On the June 19 episode of Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle held a meeting about the attacks on Enzo and Cass. Big Show was asked if had any part of the attacks, which he took offense and said that he wasn't competing on Raw again and left. Angle said that after talking to backstage officials, The Revival was cleared of the attacks. Cory Graves showed video surveillance of Big Cass staging his own attack from the previous week. Cass admitted that was indeed behind the attacks on Enzo. Cass said that he was tired of Enzo's mouth and he wanted to smack him upside his head for all the stuff that he had to deal with over the past few years and kept himself away from the finger pointing towards him because he wanted to watch Enzo suffer. Cass said that they were done before kicking Enzo in the head. The following week, Enzo wanted Cass to come to the ring to talk things over. After Enzo said that he refuses to let anything happen to their friendship and Cass said that he was ashamed of himself for what he did. The two embraced in the ring, but Cass attacked Enzo before throwing him down the ramp. On the July 3 episode, Enzo said that if Cass wants to handle things this way then he was going to fight back. Cass and Enzo then attacked each other until Kurt Angle separated the two and made a match between them at Great Balls of Fire. At Extreme Rules, The Miz won the Intercontinental Championship from Dean Ambrose. The following night on Raw, Maryse threw Miz a celebration party which consisted of champagne, a bear mascot, and huge red gift. Miz attacked the masot because he thought it was Ambrose. Miz also thought that Ambrose was hiding in the gift and Miz knocked it over and proceeded to destroy it. Maryse said that it was a grandfather clock that had always wanted and he broke it, which caused Maryse to run to the back upset. A couple of weeks later, Miz apologized to Maryse for destroying the clock and for accidentally knocking her off the apron the previous week. Mayrse accepted the apology, but after Ambrose interrupted, the clock was broke again by Miz and Maryse again left the ring in tears. Following, Ambrose was attacked by two men dressed in bear costumes and the men were revealed as Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel, who Miz had earlier invited them to be part of his entourage. The following week on Raw, Ambrose teamed with Heath Slater and Rhyno in a losing effort to the Miz-tourage. The following week, Miz retained his title in a match against Heath Slater. A rematch for the Intercontinental Championship was made for Great Balls of Fire between Miz and Ambrose. At Extreme Rules, Cesaro and Sheamus defeated The Hardy Boyz in a Steel Cage match to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Two weeks later, the two teams fought in a 2-out-of-3 Falls match, which ended in a no contest after the deciding fall ended in a double countout. General Manager Kurt Angle announced that the two teams would have one final match for the titles in a 30-Minute Iron Man match at Great Balls of Fire. Event Pre-show During the pre-show, Neville defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Akira Tozawa. In the end, Neville performed a Spinning Back Kick on Tozawa to retain the title. Preliminary matches The actual pay-per-view opened with Bray Wyatt facing Seth Rollins. In the climax, Wyatt poked the eye of Rollins and executed Sister Abigail on Rollins to win the match. Next, Enzo Amore faced Big Cass. After dominating the entire match, Cass performed a Big Boot on Amore to win the match. After that, Cesaro and Sheamus defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Hardy Boyz in a 30-minute Iron Man match. At the start of the match, after Cesaro distracted Matt, Sheamus performed a Brogue Kick on Matt to make the score 1–0. Sheamus and Cesaro performed a White Noise/Diving Neckbreaker combination on Jeff to advance the score to 2–0. Jeff performed a Twist of Fate on Cesaro to make the score 2–1. After Cesaro threw Matt into the ring post and Matt went outside the ring, Matt was counted out, making the score 3–1. With the aide of Matt, Jeff pinned Cesaro with a split-legged pin to make the score 3–2. Matt performed a Super Twist of Fate on Sheamus to even the score 3–3. Thinking Sheamus was the legal man, Jeff performed a Swanton Bomb on him, but was quickly pinned by Cesaro, who was the legal man, to make the score 4–3. Jeff retaliated and performed a Twist of Fate on Cesaro, but during the pin, the time-limit expired, hence Cesaro and Sheamus retained the titles. Later, Alexa Bliss defended the Raw Women's Championship against Sasha Banks. In the climax, Banks applied the Bank Statement on Bliss, but Bliss managed to escape by touching the ropes. Bliss then got herself intentionally counted out, thus Banks won the match, but Bliss retained the title. After the match, Banks fought with Bliss on the stage and performed a Meteora onto Bliss off the English announce table. Next, The Miz (with his "Miztourage": Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, and Maryse) defended the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose. Ambrose executed Dirty Deeds on Miz, only for Maryse to place Miz's foot on the rope, voiding the pinfall. In the end, Axel distracted the referee, allowing Dallas to attack Ambrose. Miz then performed a Skull Crushing Finale on Ambrose to retain the title. After that, Roman Reigns faced Braun Strowman in an ambulance match. In the climax on the stage, Strowman attempted to throw Reigns into the LED light board, but Reigns reversed and pushed Strowman into it, destroying part of the light board. Reigns then attempted to spear Strowman into the back of the ambulance, but Strowman avoided Reigns and Reigns went into the ambulance himself. Strowman then quickly closed the doors to win the match. After the match, Reigns got out of the ambulance, performed a spear on Strowman, and threw him into the ambulance. Reigns then drove the ambulance into the parking garage, reversed the ambulance, and crashed it into a production truck, trapping Strowman inside. Reigns then left as General Manager Kurt Angle appeared in shock. Whilst backstage personnel and emergency services attended to Strowman, an impromptu match occurred between Curt Hawkins and Heath Slater, which Slater won off-screen. After Strowman was freed from the ambulance with the jaws of life, he refused medical treatment and stumbled away. Main event In the main event, Brock Lesnar defended the Universal Championship against Samoa Joe. Before the match, Joe attacked Lesnar and performed a Uranage Slam on Lesnar through an announce table. After Lesnar recovered, the match officially started and Joe applied the Coquina Clutch on Lesnar, who escaped and performed three German Suplexes on Joe. Whilst the referee was distracted, Joe attacked Lesnar with a low blow and applied a second Coquina Clutch on Lesnar, who countered into a Sidewalk Slam. Lesnar attempted an F-5 on Joe, who countered into the Coquina Clutch for the third time. However, Lesnar escaped and performed an F-5 on Joe to retain the title. Aftermath Roman Reigns' post-match attack on Braun Strowman was widely described as attempted murder. The following day, it was reported that Strowman was in the care of his personal physician, but the severity of his injuries were undisclosed. On the post-Great Balls of Fire episode of Raw, General Manager Kurt Angle congratulated Brock Lesnar on retaining the Universal Championship. As Angle was about to reveal his plans for Lesnar's championship match at SummerSlam, they were interrupted by Roman Reigns. Reigns said that he took care of Braun Strowman, since Angle could not and Lesnar was never around to be able to. Reigns then said he wanted Lesnar at SummerSlam, but Lesnar said he did not deserve it. They were then interrupted by Samoa Joe. He claimed that Lesnar did not beat him, but escaped him at Great Balls of Fire. Angle then scheduled Reigns to face Joe the following week where the winner would face Lesnar for the title at SummerSlam, however, the match ended in a no contest after Strowman returned and attacked both. The Hardy Boyz addressed the Iron Man match. They said that due to their loss, other tag teams on Raw thought that they were done, but they said that they were not. They were then interrupted by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, who defeated The Hardys in an ensuing tag match. After that match, The Revival came out and also attacked The Hardy Boyz. The Miz hosted his own award show, The Mizzies, in response to retaining the Intercontinental Championship against Dean Ambrose. Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas tied for "Best Supporting Actor", Maryse won "Most Gorgeous Sexy Leading Lady", and The Miz won "Greatest Man in WWE". Ambrose then came out and immediately attacked Miz, but Axel and Dallas made the save. As Ambrose was getting beat down, Seth Rollins came out to help Ambrose, and the two cleared the ring. Later that night, Rollins faced Bray Wyatt in a rematch that Wyatt won. After the match, The Miztourage came out and attacked Rollins, who was saved by Ambrose. In the women's division, Sasha Banks and Bayley teamed up to face Nia Jax and Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss in a rematch from the previous week. Bayley rolled up Bliss for the win. Bayley defeated Bliss the following week in a singles match, and she was scheduled to face Banks the next episode where the winner will face Bliss for the title at SummerSlam. In the cruiserweight division, Akira Tozawa and Cedric Alexander teamed up and faced Noam Dar and WWE Cruiserweight Champion Neville where Tozawa pinned Neville to win the match. The following night on 205 Live, Neville attacked Tozawa during Tozawa's match against Ariya Daivari. Big Cass gloated about defeating Enzo Amore. He said that he was the future of WWE and will eventually become Universal Champion. He was then interrupted by Big Show, who attacked Cass and threw Cass out of the ring. Matches |future =no |match1 =Neville © defeated Akira Tozawa (with Titus O'Neil) |stip1 =Singles match for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship |time1 =11:40 |pre1 =yes |match2 =Bray Wyatt defeated Seth Rollins |stip2 =Singles match |time2 =12:10 |match3 =Big Cass defeated Enzo Amore |stip3 =Singles match |time3 =5:25 |match4 =Cesaro and Sheamus © defeated The Hardy Boyz (Jeff and Matt Hardy) 4–3 |stip4 =30-minute Iron Man match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship |time4 =30:00 |match5 =Sasha Banks defeated Alexa Bliss © by countout |stip5 =Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship |time5 =11:40 |match6 =The Miz © (with Maryse, Curtis Axel, and Bo Dallas) defeated Dean Ambrose |stip6 =Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship |time6 =11:20 |match7 =Braun Strowman defeated Roman Reigns |stip7 =Ambulance match |time7 =16:35 |match8 =Heath Slater defeated Curt Hawkins |stip8 =Singles match |time8 =2:10 |match9 =Brock Lesnar © (with Paul Heyman) defeated Samoa Joe |stip9 =Singles match for the WWE Universal Championship |time9 =6:25 }} Iron Man match See also * List of WWE Network events * List of WWE pay-per-view events References External links * Category:2017 WWE Network events Category:Events Category:WWE pay-per-view events Category:Raw Events